Congratulations to Dr. Anthony Hartshorn at Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, in Tempe Arizona, on receiving an Innov-X Research Grant Award. Dr. Hartshorn's research project, Ghosts of Weathering Past: Fingerprinting Hillslope Processes through Portable XRF Measurements of Channel Sand Zr, carried out in San Gabriel Mtns, CA; Catalina Mtns, AZ; and Mazatzal Wilderness, AZ. According to Dr. Hartshorn, "It is impossible to measure the extent to which a hillslope has been transformed from rock to soil if those hillslope soils have been eroded or gouged by landslides. [We'll] use XRF to obtain very high spatial resolution measurements of Zr from stream channel sands … enabling us to link the Zr in sand particles to the Zr of hillslope soils in order to build a process-based model of hillslope evolution."
Portable XRF provides fast and simple in-situ elemental analysis of Mg through U, from PPM to high percentage levels. In a matter of seconds, it allows simultaneous measurements of up to 25 elements. The Innov-X Academic Relations Program encourages and supports research into applications where insitu XRF measurements expand or enhance a knowledge base. It puts the power of portable XRF in researchers' hands allowing them to take it to the field, where it really counts. Innov-X Academic Research Grants include the loan of an analyzer, technical training and/or consultation, and sponsorship at a technical conference to present the research findings.
